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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

You won't miss the pasta in this Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Turkey Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, Kale, and Basil Vinaigrette.

I guess I'm having a little fling with cauliflower because this Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Turkey Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, Kale, and Basil Vinaigrette is the latest in a string of fun cauliflower experiments. In the last few months I've shared Cheesy Baked Cauliflower Tots, Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Feta, and Fried Cauliflower Rice with Shrimp, and all of them had that special something that means the recipe is going to be a repeater in my kitchen. That's also true for this latest cauliflower experiment where I used roasted cauliflower as the base of the salad and combined it with browned turkey Italian Sausage, cherry tomatoes, and barely wilted kale. If it's a bit hot to use the oven where you are, use a toaster oven to roast the cauliflower. (And I should probably be sharing something like this pasta salad the week of Father's Day, but unless dad is a cauliflower-avoider, I promise this salad is so delicious you won't even miss the pasta!)

I used a 4.5 oz. container of baby kale, which didn't need to be washed.

The cauliflower is done when it's starting to lightly brown like this.

Put the kale into a bowl big enough to hold all salad ingredients and toss with the hot cauliflower. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to wilt the kale.

Then add the browned turkey Italian sausage and cherry tomatoes plus 3-4 tablespoons of Basil Vinaigrette and toss until the kale is coated with dressing and all ingredients are well-combined. Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 425F/220C. Cut up the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces, discarding the core and leaves. Whisk together the white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, Italian Herb blend, and olive oil. Put the cauliflower into a bowl big enough to hold all the salad ingredients (so you can use it again later) and toss with the oil-vinegar mixture. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray and spread out the cauliflower (putting flat sides down as much as possible for best browning.) Roast the Cauliflower about 30 minutes, or until the edges are getting slightly browned.

While the cauliflower roasts, make the Basil Vinaigrette if you don't have some in the fridge. Cut the turkey Italian sausage in half and slice on the diagonal. Heat the 2 tsp. olive oil and saute turkey sausage until it's lightly browned on all sides. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. If you don't have a package of pre-washed baby kale, chop up the kale, wash in salad spinner, and spin dry.

Wipe out the bowl you used to toss the cauliflower with the oil-vinegar mixture and put the kale in the bowl. When the cauliflower is nicely browned, put it in the bowl on top of the kale and let it sit 5-10 minutes to wilt the kale. Then add the tomatoes and browned Italian sausage and about 3-4 tablespoons of Basil Vinaigrette (more or less to taste). Toss until the kale leaves are lightly coated with dressing and the ingredients are well combined. Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. Serve at room temperature.

This was still okay after being in the fridge overnight, but I thought it was definitely best when it was freshly made.

This low-carb and low-glycemic summer salad would be approved for any phase of the South Beach Diet or most other low-carb eating plans. Turkey Italian Sausage like I used would be best for South Beach.

Nutritional Information?

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

Ten More Delicious Ideas with Cauliflower:
(Recipes from other blogs not always South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

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Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Made this for dinner last night. I didn't make the basil vinaigrette since I forgot to stop at the store on my way home from work, so I just used oil and vinegar dressing. It was AMAZING. My boyfriend declared it one of his new favorites. Thanks for the recipe!

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